Day 240: May Saba & Home Visits

"We have a fixed time for you, O peoples. If ye fail, at the appointed hour, to turn towards God, He, verily, will lay violent hold on you, and will cause grievous afflictions to assail you from every direction. How severe, indeed, is the chastisement with which your Lord will then chastise you!"

- Baha'u'llah

The past few weeks I've really been trying to concentrate more time on May Saba. I've been putting her to bed and helping her read The Hidden Words and do her homework. What prompted the reconcentration was an explosive argument I had with her about her attitude in dealing with me and her mother, especially when we're trying to help her with something. I don't think the particulars need to be mentioned, but it still seemed unfair for me to expect her to revolutionize her attitude without playing a more active role in the development of her character myself. Not to mention I'll be leaving soon, and I'm going to miss her a lot, so it seems like a good idea to spend as much time with her as I can.

One night while I was trying to help her understand one of the Hidden Words, she started poking me in the face and goofing off, so I tried to steer her back to the task at hand. Finally she asked, "Why are you so patient with me?"

After pointing out that just a few days ago I was yelling at her, I went on to reply, "You're patient with the ones you love, right?"

After a moment of silence she finally looked away and admitted that she wasn't always, but after a little encouragement decided that maybe she could make a better effort. Then she asked me if I was bothered by people who teased me about my weight, and I told her I was sometimes but usually not. In a huff, she declared that she didn't know why I had to be so "virtuous" all the time!

The night before last I stayed up until 11:00 PM helping her with a report she had to write on Australia. Because she didn't do enough research in a previous assignment, we had to redo that assignment and then begin writing the report. Based on her knowledge and my knowledge in fifth grade I really wonder what on Earth they're teaching these children! There seems to be waaay too much emphasis on playing games and sports and having fun rather than academics. She's learning things now that I'd already covered in 2nd grade. I had to explain the three branches of government in most modern democracies and then assist her with research about Australia's particular form of government (federal parliamentary democracy, in case you were wondering), which I knew next to nothing about. It took a long time, but after laying down the ground rules about listening to me when I was trying to explain something she was exceptionally attentive and (I think) learned a lot.

I also went with Mitra to the parent-teacher conference with May's teacher, and I think I was mistaken for Dr. Sabet, which happens every once in awhile. We also went to one of her soccer matches. It was pretty amusing to watch the children who attended affluent schools running around in their well-tailored uniforms getting the mess beat out of them by the students from local schools who had uniforms and shoes that were literally falling apart. It seems that appearance isn't everything in soccer (and a lot of other things)!

In terms of Baha'i work, we've mostly been busy organizing the United Nations Day panel discussion at the University of Dar es Salaam. We've been working closely with Shalli, a member of the student government, because the event is being co-hosted with them. The other day we were going around camps glueing up posters. We scaled a hill and had a fantastic view of the city and the ocean (hills are rare in Dar es Salaam) and placed a poster on one of the main lecture halls. A few moments later we hear a bunch of scuffling behind us and yelling, including the obligatory "Hey, mzungu!".

I kept walking, mostly because I don't like being called mzungu, but Mitra turned back. It turned out that the man supposedly responsible for these particular lecture halls had taken it upon himself to march over and rip our poster off the wall! He was giving this big long ranting speech about how foreigners come and think they can do anything until Shalli appeared and really ripped him a new one. Tanzanians aren't really the type to get mad about things, but wow, she really laid into him. After she finished with him, she stomped off and we followed while she explained that he was just "a foolish old man" that saw foreigners and thought he could get some money. It really gives me hope to see brief moments when Tanzanians themselves can identify inequity and foolish behavior and boldly stand up to denounce it.

Later on, we ran into more trouble when the man whose entire job it is to put up posters and banners around the university refused to do so unless we paid him. This mentality of expecting to be paid extra when a white foreigner shows up really gets to me sometimes. Aside from being unfair, it does nothing to empower local people or uplift their dignity that each time me or someone like me comes sauntering by their immediate response is to ask for some kind of handout. Just because I may or may not have more money than you doesn't mean you're entitled to do everything in your power to extort some of it from me, especially to do your own job!

Unfortunately, we had to pay him, otherwise it wouldn't get done. The amount of money we've had to spend on stupid things like this just to put on one event is mind-boggling. We've spent more than half our entire annual budget trying to hold one relatively small event due singularly and solely to the inefficiency and corruption of the African continent. On some days when I'm feeling like a defeatist I wonder if it wouldn't be better if every single foreign person in Africa got up and went home. I know that's not the solution, but God knows people make you feel like it is sometimes.

Dar es Salaam just recently launched the fifth cycle of growth of its intensive programme of growth, so tonight we started doing our part of the plan. The cluster has been split into teaching teams based on social relationships. For example, I'm with the Sabets and another family that lives nearby and we associate with on a regular basis. We're engaging in a campaign of home visits during the expansion phase to invite people to devotional meetings and increase the community of interest, and then the consolidation phase will focus on more home visits and bringing people into the other core activities.

Tonight, we had our first two home visits. We visited two people that lived near each other, Rashidi and Janet. We're very good friends with Janet, and we drop by her house often so it wasn't so much of an unusual thing for us. The Sabets had met Rashidi before, but this was my first time seeing him. He's somehow related to one of our teaching teammates, and he owns one of the local business-oriented newspapers/publishing companies. He described himself as a person that didn't believe in prayer, but nevertheless believed God was "in everything." The way he spoke was very eloquent and touched upon many principles that he shares in common with the Baha'i Faith. As Dr. Sabet said, he was "very enlightened." We invited him and his sons to our devotional meeting at the end of the month, and also extended an invitation to our event on Saturday.

At Janet's house, we had a good time (as always). She owns a travel agency, a restaurant and cultural centre, and a few other things. She's a very good friend of the Baha'is, and she's been working with Dr. Sabet to try to find a plot for the local Baha'i Centre. She gave us the obligatory cake and tea, and we shared stories and enjoyed one another's company. We invited her to our devotional and she happily accepted (she loves coming to the house for devotionals), promising to bring her sister and also stop by the house for dinner next week to meet Hossein's sister. Before we left, she insisted that we pray together to bless her home. I chanted a prayer, and Janet prayed fervently for a few relatives, for us, and for a new plot for the local Baha'i Centre.

Two successful home visits in one night makes you feel really good about the Five Year Plan and the direction of your community, especially when they're spent with such wonderful and spiritual people.

Tomorrow the house will be stuffed with guests. Hossein's sister and brother-in-law are coming from Zambia. They're going with Hossein to Zanzibar on Saturday morning and Mitra will follow on Sunday after the U.N. Day event. We're also hosting Sohaila from Iringa, who is serving as the Baha'i panelist at the event on Saturday. Since the Sabets will be out of town for this weekend and half of next week (Monday and Tuesday are public holidays - Eid el Fitr), I decided that I would take a short trip to Kilwa Kisiwani, a World Heritage Site down the coast from Dar es Salaam. Since I'm going by myself, God only knows what sort of "adventures" I'll run into but I'm really looking forward to the trip. I return that following Saturday and then head for western Tanzania and Kampala on Monday.